Comment is free + London 2012 festival | The Guardianhttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/commentisfree+culture/london-2012-festival
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London 2012: opening ceremony saw all our mad dreams come true | Frank Cottrell Boycehttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/jul/29/frank-cottrell-boyce-olympics-opening-ceremony
The secret's out - the Olympic opening ceremony was a pyrotechnic act of confession and as its writer, I was elated by the magic we created<p>It's the morning after the opening ceremony. For two years I've felt constipated with secrets, but last night was a pyrotechnic act of confession, and I feel elated. At last I don't have to talk about &quot;Betty&quot; any more. Betty was the code name for Thomas Heatherwick's beautiful, delicate <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19026694" title="">Olympic </a>cauldron. She was named after the executive producer's dog. And so we were liable to get strange messages about &quot;going to visit Betty&quot; and &quot;what to do if Betty malfunctions&quot; and even &quot;burning Betty&quot;. For the last two years I've been going round bragging about being the writer on Danny Boyle's opening ceremony. The usual response is: &quot;Wow!&quot; followed by: &quot;Errrm, what do you mean?&quot; Which is what I asked Danny when he first asked me. &quot;I don't really know,&quot; he answered.</p><p>But he did know who he wanted. He put together a little team – including the designer Mark Tildesley, the costume designer Suttirat Larlarb, the visual effects wizard Adam Gascoyne. He'd worked with them all before and over the next two years they all worked on <a href="http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/62808/productions/frankenstein.html" title=""><em>Frankenstein</em> </a>at the National Theatre and shot a film, <em>Trance</em>, together. They worked so closely they were practically a hive mind. My job was to join up the ideas in a way that the non-hive dweller could understand.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/jul/29/frank-cottrell-boyce-olympics-opening-ceremony">Continue reading...</a>Olympic Games 2012London 2012 festivalDanny BoyleFrank Cottrell BoyceMon, 30 Jul 2012 09:50:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/jul/29/frank-cottrell-boyce-olympics-opening-ceremonyClive Rose/Getty ImagesThe volunteers: Children and nurses representing the Great Ormond Street Hospital, the NHS and children's literature. Photograph: Clive Rose/Getty ImagesClive Rose/Getty ImagesThe volunteers: Children and nurses representing the Great Ormond Street Hospital, the NHS and children's literature. Photograph: Clive Rose/Getty ImagesFrank Cottrell Boyce2012-07-30T09:50:00ZWill you ring the bells? | Pollhttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/poll/2012/jul/26/london-2012-bells-ring
Turner prize winning artist Martin Creed wants everyone in the UK to <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/interactive/2012/jul/25/bells-ring-london-2012-olympics-interactive">ring a bell</a> at 8.12am on Friday, as part of the Olympics opening ceremony. All bells are allowed, be they doorbells, bicycle bells or church bells. Will you be joining in to mark the occasion? <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/poll/2012/jul/26/london-2012-bells-ring">Continue reading...</a>London 2012 festivalUK newsCultureOlympic Games 2012OlympicsThu, 26 Jul 2012 10:37:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/poll/2012/jul/26/london-2012-bells-ringRobert Szwedowski/Rex FeaturesChurch bells. Photograph: Robert Szwedowski/Rex FeaturesRobert Szwedowski/Rex FeaturesChurch bells Photograph: Robert Szwedowski/Rex FeaturesGuardian Staff2012-07-26T10:37:00Z